1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and method for managing and providing selective access to automated data regarding daily valued defined contribution plans. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing accounting data between one or more clients and one or more administrators and one or more users (e.g., auditors, vendors, sub-vendors, etc.) and preferably presented to a third party via an interface which collects the information in a first format and displays the information in second format.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Daily valued defined contribution plans are becoming more and more popular today as the social security system becomes less able to provide adequate retirement income for retirees. This is especially true as federal officials forecast that the administration will not be able to meet the increased demands as greater numbers of baby boomers retire, thereby stressing the system to its brink.
In response, Congress continues to pass tax incentives for individuals and companies to contribute to personal retirement accounts such as the daily valued defined contribution plan as well as other such devices. However, strict requirements on companies who offer these plans must be met by the companies to allow plan participants to continue to receive the tax benefits. For example, the Internal Revenue Service requires certain audits to be completed for plans having 100 or more participants. Administrators or Sponsors must file audits along with a Form 5500 annual report of Employee Benefit Plan to meet these federal regulations.
However, since the plan sponsor and the independent auditing entity are different parties, all of the data necessary to perform these audits may not be readily available in the form or format needed by the auditor. In the past, auditors have either had to comb through great amounts of files to generate data or have had to review printed reports and filings that may not have information in the exact form needed to prepare an audit.
Great efficiencies may be made by organizing the data for the plan and by providing it on-line in a consistent, predetermined manner so that an auditor can readily access and utilize the data for the audit. According to the present invention, a plan consultant or other accountant or administrator tasked with maintaining the records and data of a plan can provide the sponsor with the option of making accounting and plan data available on-line and password accessible to the outside auditors or other authorized parties, in a predetermined format and order to increase the efficient access to the data by the auditors, reducing the burden of auditing and increasing the transparency of the administration and accounting of the plan. The data may be presented in different formats according to the party viewing the information, for example different screens may be provided to the company employees (“plan members”), the companies themselves, and to third party auditors so that each not only has access to different information, but information in different order.